


And From The Dark

by araydre, Neutralchaos



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, M/M, Pre-Slash, Tony never listens, demon!Bucky, mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-27 18:02:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16707370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/araydre/pseuds/araydre, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neutralchaos/pseuds/Neutralchaos
Summary: Tony should learn to listen when told why arcane books should not be read aloud, even if its technically not him doing the reading.





	And From The Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to NeutralChaos, who is not only the artist of this piece, but also the muse, co-author and beta.

Tony flipped through the old, borrowed book, the pages were threatening to crumble beneath his fingertips, _Huh, Maybe he should’ve at least tried to get some of the engine off before picking it up._ Scanning it quickly for any references to the Black Light Ring, but nothing was immediately obvious and he tossed it onto the nearest workbench.

“Jarvis, would you read this out to me? I have things to do,” he said,  
“Of course, sir, where would you like me to start?”

“The chapter I was just looking at seems the most promising, but it’s smudged to hell and back, see if you can decipher that,” Tony sighed running a hand through his hair, messing up any semblance he had of taming it, “I hate time travel shenanigans,” 

While Jarvis was scanning the pages, Tony started work on his right gauntlet. The last battle he had been called in for had taken a toll on it, the plating torn and the wiring damaged. He had a moment of concern about Jarvis reading the book aloud, but Stephen had said no living being, and Jarvis wasn’t a living being _technically_. After all, his name was just an acronym, Just A Rather Very Intelligent System, besides, he had work to work to do. Getting J to look through it was not only easier, but they were more likely to spot something that Tony wouldn’t on his own. Two birds, one stone, yadda yadda...

Tony was just finishing up replacing the torn up plating, twirling the tiny screwdriver he had been using to secure it back into place, when he heard Jarvis reading, the book in latin, and his normally soothing voice, sounding very strange. Maybe he would have a look at the code, make sure that J hadn’t picked up a virus.. Looking up at the scanned pages of the book in front him with a furrow in his brow, Tony focused on the text, but ominous as it was, there were no references to the object of his search. Shrugging he turned his focus back to the gauntlet, setting his tool down and putting it on. _Where the hell did he put that…_ He thought to himself looking for the cable to directly connect the glove to a power source. 

He was about to tell Jarvis to stop reading and skip to the next chapter, when he thought he smelled something burning. Without paying attention to Jarvis’ words he rose from his seat to investigate, the voice of his friend and assistant starting to fade into the background,. The burning smell intensified, bringing with it hints of sulphur, that made Tony wrinkle his nose and frown. There was no reason for sulphur to be anywhere near his workshop or even the building for that matter. 

“Dum-e,” He snapped, “you’re on fire duty! Where are you? Something’s burning!”

The smell got unbearable, it was all he could smell now but the bots seemed to pay it no attention, their sensors clearly malfunctioning, they had to be. His eyes were starting to water as he looked around trying to find the source, when there was a flash of sooty flames and Tony found himself tripping and falling.

***

He was falling… 

_What_? He thought trying to look around before…

“OW!” he yelped as he landed firmly on his ass. Groaning he looked around himself with a scowl, expecting to see the underside of one the tables in his workshop. Instead here were hard, smooth cobblestones under him and a dark alley with buildings leaning over it in front, everything smelled vaguely of burning sulphur, and the light filtering form the sky was dusky yellowish in color.

“We are not in Kansas anymore.” He muttered before he whispered “Jarvis, are you with me?” and only silence answered him. Okay, that wasn't true, he could hear chittering and scratching from deeper within the darker parts of the alley.

Tony picked himself up and dusted off somewhat painfully, that fall had done him no favours. Limping slightly, he went towards the light and exited into an empty street. Turning this way and that, he surveyed his surroundings. The houses seemed to have leapt off the pages from a book of ancient buildings, with crooked spires, arched doorways and shuttered windows, the stone worn smooth and the wood parts warped and cracked.

With a shrug he picked a direction at random and started walking, knocking on any doors that happened to be closer to street level ( there was no way he was going to try the homes where it was all smooth stone until the second floor. How the hell did that even work?) here and there, but none opened and no one answered him. 

Finally, after what seemed like forever Tony peered down the dimly lit street and saw what looked to be a person in the distance, carrying something large on their back, weaving and stumbling as if drunk. He approached the person carefully, only to see that they weren’t carrying anything at all. In fact, what he had thought to be a, overfilled bag was a pair of large wings on their back. 

“Hey there,” He greeted, his voice sounding too loud in the quiet “can you tell me where I am?” 

Instead of answering him, the person (?) glared at him while slurring something in an incomprehensible language and abruptly crossed to the other side of the narrow street. 

_Well fuck. That was the question, wasn’t it. Where the hell was he? He thought to himself. winged people wondering about, smell of sulphur in the air …_

He wandered for what felt like hours in the oppressive heat of day, (He hoped it was day at least because otherwise he’s be so screwed if it was this night) Tony was thirsty, but there were no places to buy a drink, even if he had had anything to trade for it. The city had changed around him. The old decrepit buildings and narrow cracked streets, giving place to newer and shinier ones that towered so high, he couldn’t see the tops of them, no matter how hard he peered. He stopped and slipped into a corner to dig around in his pockets. His searching yielded some scraps of wires, small electronics parts and a pocket knife. Of course he still had a functional gauntlet, wrapped snug around his hand but that would be only a last resort, as self defense.

Tony looked around considering his options before he muttered “eeny minie moe...:” and picked a house that seemed just as dark and empty as the rest. Walking up as nonchalant as he possibly could, he tested the door finding it -unsurprisingly- was as locked like all others had been. Leaning down to get a closer look at the lock, Tony found it to be - to his complete and utter glee - a fairly primitive one so he pried it open with the multitool of his pocket knife and a side of brute force.

Inside the house was completely dark and after closing the door behind his back, the only light source, was the pale blue from Tony’s arc reactor, dimly lighting his way. Dark drapes covered the windows that looked like they had been shuttered from the outside as well. _Well that seems a little overkill._ Tony thought to himself as he tried to navigate around the somewhat oddly shaped, but plush furniture that filled the room. Holding his hands out in front of him, he tripped over a loose piece of… something and grabbed onto the nearest thing nearby to stop from falling on his face. As he righted himself, he noticed something off… Dust. His brain supplied. _If there’s no one living here. Where the hell is the dust?_ The house clearly was not abandoned, since there was no dust anywhere. Much more wary now, Tony silently continued his exploration, looking for a kitchen or something like it.

As he tiptoed his way past what he hoped was a large window, there was a whisper of sound and Tony was slammed into a wall, hard stone biting into his face and splitting his lip. He felt his neck being grabbed Before he found himself roughly turned around. A window opened as if by magic, and the light that flooded the room suddenly caused his eyes to water as he looked up to what had to be the owner of the house, hovering over him with a thunderous expression.

The demon, because that was the closest Tony could come to naming him in that moment, hissed out a question in the same strange, sibilant language. 

“I don’t understand,” Tony choked out, panic flashing through him.

“Do. you. want. to. die?” the demon growled out in clear English, punctuating each word with the smallest of squeezes to Tony’s very soft and squishy throat before releasing him enough for him to breathe.

“That's a loaded question, if I say no that means I want to be immortal. If I say yes that means I'm suicidal,” Tony babbled in between gulping in as much air as he could.

“Is breaking into strangers homes now a common practice on the human realm?” asked the demon clearly annoyed.

“Ah, I think it might be for some, but I was just looking for some water. I mean, I’d have bought some but would you believe there is not one vending machine here? 

The demon hummed looking down at Tony with a considering (And if Tony was actually suicidal he’d say appraising) look, “Water I will give you, in exchange for your name.”

“Tony, my name is Tony.”

“Tony,” the demon tasted the name on his tongue and grabbed Tony harder by the neck, “don’t lie to me” He snarled, “that is not your true name!”

“Anthony Edward Stark then!” Tony yelped, “but everyone calls me Tony!”

“That is much more fitting,” came the pleased sounding grumble, “come, I will give you your drink.” The demon said, letting go of Tony’s neck and lifting himself up and off of Tony in a single graceful movement.

“Wait, what should I call you?” Tony asked as he scrambled up to his feet, surprised by this turn of events.

“You can call me Bucky.”

“That … is not your real name either.” Tony grumbled glaring at Bucky’s back.

“‘Course not,” Bucky purred with a smirk while looking back over his shoulder, “names have power, didn’t you know that, Anthony Edward Stark?”

Tony felt a worrying tug somewhere deep behind the arc reactor that prompted him to follow his host . 

He resisted for a moment waiting until the pull faded, and his thirst reminded him of why he broke in here in the first place. before he followed the demon deeper into the house and into a kitchen. It looked so mundane if old fashioned, a table and benches, a spigot and a basin, a cooking surface and glass fronted cabinets. Bucky took a glass out of one and filled it with clear water, and handed it over.

“So what is a human like yourself doing here, Tony?” he asked, folding himself onto a bench.

“Where is here, exactly?” Tony hedged.

“Answer for an answer, sweetheart,” The Demon said amused, cocking his head slightly.

“If I knew where here was, I could answer you better, but I’m looking for a way back home,” Tony said after gulping down the glass of water and reaching to fill another one, “so where am I?”

“You would call this a demon realm, and I suppose I could be persuaded to help you get back. For a price.” Tony could feel the sharp grin behind the words as he watched the glass fill.

“What would that be?” Tony asked, every muscle in his body tensing at once.

“Oh, we’ll talk details later,” Bucky said with a wave, as if shooing away the idea, “now tell me how you found your way here,” He finished shifting in his seat and waiting.

“Apparently…” He hesitated. The book had been powerful enough to bring him here and if he was being honest with himself, there was very little reason to trust the demon in front of him. Who knew what Bucky could do with the knowledge contained in the book. “by way of a book,” he finished vaguely, seating himself across from the demon.

“A book, did no one tell you not to read it out loud?” Bucky asked incredulous.

“Oh, they did,” Tony said flippantly, “and I didn’t, my AI was doing the reading.”

“AI?”

“Artificial Intelligence,” Tony answered proudly

“There are things like that on the human realm now?” Bucky asked, his eyes lighting up with excitement and curiosity.

“Just the one I made.” Tony shrugged.

“So, you made a soul without even knowing. Who are you Anthony Edward Stark?” Bucky inquired, leaning forward and staring intently at Tony.

Tony leaned away slightly, slightly uncomfortable with the intensity of Bucky’s full attention, “A lot of things, but nothing that really matters here.” 

He considered his options, apparently there was a way back, unless the demon was lying, and who knew? Demons were supposed to lie, weren’t they? Throwing caution to the wind Tony decided to ask.

“I don’t suppose you know by any chance, where I could find the Black Light Ring?” He tried as nonchalant as he could manage.

“I might be able to find out.” Bucky said tilting his head slightly, a sly grin on his face “what are you willing to trade for that knowledge?”

“Knowledge for knowledge, I can tell you about AIs,” Tony offered. 

***

They kept talking until sunset, Bucky providing a completely unrecognizable but surprisingly delicious meal in exchange for news from the human world, when sounds of activity started up outside from the street. Demons turned out to be nocturnal, who would have thought. 

Bucky stood up raising his arms into a stretch, his wings rising up from between his shoulders, taking up what seemed to be the entire space behind him. 

“Well, Seeing as everyone else is up and about now, I suppose i can make an attempt to go looking for some information for you. After all, knowledge for knowledge,” he said with a wink before he turned to Tony and herded him out of the kitchen and into further into the darkened interior of the house.

He settled Tony into a room to rest with an admonishment to stay out of trouble, and went looking for the Ring (Supposedly. Tony was going to take his word for that). Tony waited for a while until he was sure his host had left and then took off exploring the rest of the house.

Sleep overcame him in the library, where he finally removed the gauntlet from his hand and set it down on a nearby table, while he was looking through unreadable books, scanning for illustrations and marveling at the scenes depicted. He sat by one of the shelves and laid his head against it to rest his eyes a moment.

Tony woke up to find himself being carried.

“I should have tied you to my bed,” grumbled Bucky to himself.

“Hmmm, kinky,” hummed Tony, not at all displeased by the idea.

“Oh you’re awake.” Bucky said surprised, “I found your ring.”

Tony was instantly alert, “Can we get it?”

“You’re going to have to bargain with the Ifrit that holds it. But get some proper rest first, she generally holds court shortly before dawn, we will go then,” Bucky said.

After Bucky deposited Tony in bed, the sleep was gone and he tossed and turned thinking about the predicament he found himself in. The demon hadn’t explained further anything about getting back to Earth, nor about the deal Tony would have to make, and it seemed everything here was about deals, favours bought and traded. Tony considered his possessions, he had nothing much to trade, and even less that he was willing to part with. Finally tired of being restless, he got up and went to search for Bucky, finding him in the library again.

“So I should keep my end of the deal and tell you all you would like to know about AIs,” Tony greeted.

***

When the first streaks of green and yellow began lighting the sky, Bucky ushered them out of the house and towards the ifrit’s mansion for the audience. Tony was again armed with the gauntlet, even if he thought it would do him no good if things turned sour, he was one against too many and his quick tongue was usually his best weapon.

The mansion was free standing in a place where land was clearly at a premium, other buildings backed into cliff walls or completely built into them. Ornate doors were being guarded by a pair of liveried demons in gold and purple. 

Bucky approached them with confidence in his step and announced, “The human, Tony, for an audience with her grace.” before glancing back and gesturing for Tony to keep close.

Tony plastered on his press smile and followed Bucky. The doors were opened without further words being exchanged and they entered a hall bedecked in purple and gold as well, leading to a ballroom.

The room was filled with people, demons of all kinds clearly didn’t believe in clothing the upper body, which made sense, since the majority of them possessed large wings. They were however draped in gold and jewelry, shining and glittering in the low light.

Tony took all of this in with expertly concealed curiosity, his eyes finally zeroing in on the lady of the manor. She was small in stature with red hair and flaming eyes, lounging on a backless couch, her modesty not at all preserved by a set of armour-like jewelry in gold and amethyst scales or the flowing silk skirt.

Bucky and Tony took their time to mingle with the crowd so as not to seem too eager, when they were approached by another liveried demon.

“The lady Selena would like to meet our human guest. If you would follow me?”

Tony put on his most charming smile and wove his way towards their hostess, leaving the liveried demon and Bucky behind.

“It’s so lovely to meet you, your grace. I’m Tony,” he introduced himself.

“Call me Selena, Tony,” she smiled back.

“So what are you looking for in the demon realm? No one comes here without a reason.”

“Ah well, you know. Power,” Tony said with a shark like grin, “There is not much I cannot buy or trade in the human world, but power, not just the illusion of it, is a rare thing.”

Selena leaned forward, “Ambitious, that I like!”

“So I have heard you are in possession of the Black Light Ring, and I would love to buy it off you.”

“Tony, haven’t you figured it out yet? Money has no worth here, but you are in possession of power yourself, I can smell it,” her delicate nostrils flared for a moment and Selena gave a satisfied hum.

“The power you carry in your chest I will trade for the Black Light Ring.”

“Unfortunately I’m not willing to trade away that,” sighed Tony, resisting the urge to fidget, “Anything else I could interest you in?” he finished with a wink. 

“That is unfortunate indeed, you hold nothing else of interest to me presently, but do stay and enjoy the party,” she says turning away from him.

Tony seeing it for the dismissal that was turned to go and came face to face with Bucky, who was frowning at him for some reason.  
“Why the long face Buckaroo? Is it because I struck out? I bet that's it!” Tony babbled, making Bucky roll his eyes with a huff as they turned back towards the rest of the party to mingle for a bit.

As party wore on, Tony felt a restless pull to go and explore the rest of the house. wandering off, he could feel Bucky hot on his heels hissing warnings not to touch things and not to open this door or that along the way, until they came to a room filled with cases seemingly displaying oddities and curiosities. Tony slipped into it and immediately began poking around. Every so often he would go to touch something in an open case only to have Bucky reach over him and shut the door firmly. Until… There, amid trinkets rested the Black Light Ring, immediately recognisable by the dark aura surrounding it.

“Oh, here it is!” exclaimed Tony, “Do you think we could get away with just stealing it? I think we can. Just a little swipe and its ours! You should go back to the party, you need an alibi, I am not staying here long enough to need one though.”

“You will never get it out of the case without my help,” commented Bucky, “But I will need payment for that up front.”

“Deals, deals. Why is it always with the deals with you!? How do you know I can’t get to it on my own?” Tony asked, just a little offended. After all, it was glass case, how hard it could it be?

“Try and see,” Bucky smirked and leaned against one of the other cases, waiting to see whatTony would do next.

Tony narrowed his eyes at the smug looking demon and turned to carefully examine the case. After a thorough investigation that saw no immediate safety measures or alarms. He glanced back at Bucky and touched the crystal lid.

“This looks too easy,” he managed to get out with a frown before he immediately found himself thrown halfway across the room.

“That’s why,” Bucky helped him to his feet with a chuckle, “So, are you now ready to make a deal?”

“Yeah, yeah... name your price first.”

“Something nice I think-” he paused “- your childhood memories would do,” Bucky said after a moment's consideration.

“What are you going to do with those?” Tony asked with a sneer “that’s the most useless thing you could have asked for.”

“I have named my price, do you accept it or not?” Bucky looked at him with an almost bored expression. Almost being the key word, Tony could see the eagerness behind it. _That's not at all concerning,_ Tony thought to himself.

“What will happen? Will I just share them? Forget them?” Tony asked. As much as he wasn’t that attached to the memories, they were still his.

“Forget probably,” Bucky said, like they were talking about the weather, “they will be my memories from now on.”

Tony hesitated for a few moments more before deciding _fuck it. What good have they done him anyways?_ “You don’t know what you are asking for, but what the hell, take them anyway.”

Bucky placed his right hand on the side of Tony’s head and frowned in concentration. There was an uncomfortable tugging sensation in the back of Tony’s mind before what felt like a snap and he suddenly felt lighter. He tried to think of his father and... he still could remember him, but the memory was faded, without any weight behind it, like an old photograph out of the family album, interesting to look at, but not really relevant.

“Oh,” Tony sighed, “Oh, That wasn't so bad.”

Bucky scowled in response, and if Tony didn't know better he'd think that the demon was disappointed by his response, but said nothing.

“Okay, now shall we get the ring?” Tony went on cheerfully.

“Let’s try.”

After a moment of examining the case himself, Bucky started drawing symbols in the air above it. A couple of minutes passed and Tony started getting anxious. This was taking too long and if they didn’t hurry up they were going to get caught. If their interlude with the memories could be explained away, this could not be anything but an attempt to steal from their host.

Suddenly there was a clatter of feet outside the door and a half a dozen armoured demons rushed them.

Tony got a couple of shots in with his gauntlet, but they seemed to do little damage to the demons, and quickly he was overwhelmed, thrown to the ground and pinned. Only then did he have time to look around and see that Bucky was still fighting, but the overwhelming force of five to one was about to bring him down fast.

Bloodied and bruised, he was thrown down and pinned to the the floor as well. 

A moment after the commotion died down, Selena strode into the room, looking well displeased.

“Is this how you enjoy my hospitality?” she snarled, “Attempting to take what is not yours!” She paced around the two of them. Flames licking the ground by her feet before stopped and looked down her nose towards Tony “But fear not, if you want the ring so badly, I shall give it to you and take my payment in return.” she growled.

She motioned to a guard, who he kneeled down besides Tony, tore his shirt open and started poking about the arc reactor. 

“Wait, you don’t have to do this! We will leave and cause you no further trouble!” Tony struggled against the iron grip of the guard holding him. He was ready to beg even. The demon was unmoved by his words and so was Selena. 

“You had your chance to leave. You chose not to.” she hissed coldly. 

Twisting the arc reactor this way and that until he found the way to remove it and take it out of Tony’s chest, while Tony struggled as best as he could, the demon presented it to his lady.

“Oh, this will be a _nice_ addition to my collection,” She turned to the display and opened it, taking out the ring and throwing it at Tony’s feet. 

“Unlike some, I keep my bargains, so here. Let them up and escort them out. Through the back door so as not to cause a scene,” she directed the guards and left. 

Tony crawled forward gasping for breath and grabbed the damn ring. The guards lifted him up and dragged him way, presumably towards the exit. He had no capacity to watch for what happened to Bucky, just enough to keep breathing, feeling his heart slip out of rhythm.

Seemingly endless corridors later he found himself being dumped in a dark alley, not unlike the one he landed in when arriving in the Demon Realm. Again something skittered in the dark as Tony lay on his side struggling to breathe.

Not a moment later Bucky landed besides him in a much more graceful manner, crouching on the balls of his feet. 

“Anthony Edward Stark, look at me,” he ordered, “They did not injure you so badly, so what is wrong?” 

“God! They took my reactor!” Tony gasped, bringing his hands up to his chest, as if somehow they would help.

“Yes they did, but that is just a power source, isn’t it?” Bucky asked, confusion in every word.

“It keeps my heart running,” gasped Tony, curling further into himself at the growl that rumbled from deep within Bucky as he extended his clawed hands towards him. something must have clued Bucky into what a bad idea that was because he immediately took a deep breath and shook himself.

“Oh, this is bad.” he heard Bucky finally whisper.

Tony snorted weakly, “Understatement.”

“Here, Let me get a better look at you,” Bucky coaxed Tony to uncurl from the foetal position, “I can help.”

He placed his hand over Tony’s chest and seemed to feel about for something. Finally he drew a knife from somewhere.

“Trust me a moment,” he begged, emotion suddenly thick in his voice.

“Do I have a choice? ’m dying anyway, do your thing.” 

Bucky grabbed the knife tighter and dug the tip into Tony’s flesh, just above the arc reactor casing. Tony attempted to keep still, as to not disturb the demon’s work. With quick stokes Bucky carved a spell circle around the empty casing and then drew the knife across his own palm. He pressed the bloody hand to Tony’s chest, and just like that Tony’s heart resumed it’s regular rhythm and his breathing evened out.

“What,” Tony swallowed thickly, adrenaline rushing through his veins, “What did you do?”

“It’s blood magic. You have time until the cuts heal to get the device replaced.” Bucky said still crouching above Tony.

“Why save me?” Tony asked suspiciously. 

“Just protecting my future interests,”Bucky answered as he rose.

“And what do you want in return? I am assuming a thing like this doesn't come for free,” Tony asked suspiciously, while being pulled to his feet by the demon.

“Oh, let’s go with something simple this time - just a kiss from you will be enough.” Bucky answered lightly, still holding on to Tony.

Despite the blood running down his chest and various bruises from the fight, Tony was feeling better than he could remember in a long time, and repaying Bucky with a kiss was no hardship, so entwining their fingers and pulling the demon closer, he rose up to his tiptoes to brush his lips softly against the other’s. He was expecting Bucky to deepen the kiss, to take what he willed, but Bucky just smiled into it and backed away and Tony frowned.

“Here is neither the time nor the place for more,” Bucky said still smiling, “But I’m glad you had no qualms about this deal.”

Still holding Tony’s hand Bucky limped towards the mouth of the alley, leading him along. 

“Wait, we have to get back my arc reactor!” exclaimed Tony

“There is no way to do that now, they will be on high alert,” Bucky sighed and continued leading him along. They must have made a sight, bloody, bruised and disheveled, as they shuffled back towards Bucky’s house over the uneven cobblestones in the light of the dawning day.

The whole adventure had taken an hour at most, but it felt like days later, when Tony staggered over the doorstep, Bucky right beside him, exhaustion catching up to them.

“Wash up and go to sleep, we will figure this out tomorrow,” said Bucky and stumbled deeper into the house. Tony had no energy left to do anything other than what he was told and went in search of the bathroom. 

The house was confusing, with various levels and interconnected rooms, but he managed to trace his way to the room from the kitchen, which he had done earlier. 

The bathroom offered no great comforts, but there was a copper tub and a basin and soft towels, and that was all he needed. Washing the grime and blood off felt heavenly and soon he was ready to just fall asleep there in the bathtub, even though the water stung the cuts on his chest. Thinking that it would be a stupid way to go, drowning in a tub, he heaved himself out, dried off, and wrapped in a towel made his winding way to the bedroom. 

To his surprise Bucky was already on the bed half asleep. 

“Isn’t that my bed?” asked Tony.

“No, it’s m’bed, but I’m willin’ t’share,” mumbled Bucky with his face pressed into the pillows, one wing spread over the bed, the other hanging to the floor.

“I so don’t care right now, move your wing.”

Bucky did as asked and Tony flopped down on the soft featherbed sinking into it, and the demon covered him with his wing.

***

Morning found Tony cuddled up to the demon, the towel long since lost and having wonderful dreams of soft skin next to his. 

When he opened his eyes there was daylight streaming in the windows and a pair of sleepy grey ones blinking back at him. 

“Sleep, it’s not even sunset,” Bucky said, and Tony closed his eyes again.

Next he woke when it was dark outside again and his bladder was insisting he move. Shuffling out from under the cosy wing, that had been draped over him at some point, he left the comfort of the bed and made his stumbling way over to the bathroom. When he came back Bucky was sitting with his back and wings settled awkwardly against the backboard and was mid yawn. His mouth open so wide Tony could see the fangs on full display. _Wow, that should not be that attractive. Calm the hell down Tony,_ he thought to himself.

“Good morning, sunshine! Or what is it that _you do_ say around here?” greeted Tony, now wide awake, surprising since he normally needed at least an entire pot of caffeinated heaven to function.

“Good evening,” replied Bucky dryly, as he got out of the bed and stretched.Tony’s brain must've broke a little because all he could register was the play of muscles on his back, half hidden by the wings. 

“Time to get some breakfast and plan” Bucky shivered coming out of his stretch, and turned to face Tony. 

“Yeah, let’s do that.” Tony said, resisting the urge to push Bucky back onto the bed and lick him. “I could probably do with some food.

In a companionable silence they walked over to the kitchen and the demon got to making breakfast. First came glasses of some strange, purple juice, that Tony sniffed at, shrugged, and gulped down, then a moment later sandwiches, ordinarily enough.

“So your device. Do you have spares? It will be hard to get it back from Lady Selena. She doesn't part with what's hers easily” Bucky said between mouthfuls. 

“I do have spares, but they’re in the human world.” sighed Tony.

“That should be no problem as I can take you there. On one condition,” Bucky put his glass down in emphasis.

“Of course there is a condition, I know you well enough by now.” Tony said, rolling his eyes.

“There are plenty of us like lady Selena, who have status and power and are content in this land, but others would like to leave, and I belong to that second group,” started Bucky with a thoughtful look, “I would like to leave for the human realm as well, but I need an anchor there. If you agree to that role, I will take you with me.”

“What does that mean and why do you want to go there?” Tony asked more than a little curious and wary. He’s pretty sure that Strange will voodoo his ass if he brought an actual goddamn demon back with him. But he might get off a bit easier if he’s aware of the conditions for it.

“That means we sign a contract, and your life force gets tied to mine. You have seen how constricted everything is here, the human world on the other hand offers unlimited possibilities.” Bucky said solemnly and just a hint wistfully.

“That’s a big step, I want to see this contract first and I need to know what your plans are once you're there.” Tony listed off, this may be one of his more reckless plans but he’s not willing to put everyone around him in danger. If Bucky had any plans for world domination, then Tony would just be parking his butt here and dealing with the consequences of it.

“No plans yet. I have not been there for... seventy some of your years? Maybe? Time works very differently between the two worlds,” Bucky says musingly, “but the contract we have to make ourselves.”

***

The rest of the morning was spent coming up with the contract, Tony argued and bargained enough to keep up with the demon. In a moment of agitation his fingers went to tap against the arc reactor, only to find emptiness. A bolt of panic shot through him, only for Bucky to gently remind him where he was and what had happened to the reactor. 

When Tony was satisfied that Bucky wasn't going to harm any other human beings and had no ill intentions he finally agreed to the contract. It would tie them together and Tony would provide for Bucky’s initial needs in the human world, until he was able to make his own way. Bucky wrote the whole thing out in a somewhat scrawly script on a sheet of paper. 

“So are you finally ready to sign this,” he asked exasperated, after crossing out and rewriting another clause. 

“Yeah, we should be good.” answered Tony. Bucky again conjured a knife, a beautiful thing with an engraved handle and a slim, double sided blade, and sliced across his flesh palm.

“Ow, hell! What are you doing!” exclaimed Tony.

“How do you think demon deals are signed?” smirked Bucky and dipped the pen in the pooling blood in his palm.

“That seems very unsanitary,” Tony squinted at the whole process of signing the contract.

“Your turn,” Bucky handed over the knife hilt first.

“At least wash the pen, I don’t want any accidental tattoos.” 

Bucky rolled his eyes but did as told and washed his hand, which has already healed, the pen, and returned to the table. 

“You don’t have any blood borne diseases, do you?” 

“No,” sighed Bucky. “And if I did, they wouldn't be carried across the species border.”

“Okay fine,” grumbled Tony and did as he has seen Bucky do, slicing the knife across his left palm. He waited for the blood to pool and then signed the contract, the Black Light Ring secured in his pocket.


End file.
